Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner
Charles Sumnerwas an American politician and senator from Massachusetts. As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the antislavery forces in Massachusetts and a leader of the Radical Republicans in the United States Senate during the American Civil War working to destroy the Confederacy, free all the slaves, and keep on good terms with Europe. During Reconstruction, he fought to minimize the power of the ex-Confederates and guarantee equal rights to the freedmen...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth6 January 1811
CountryUnited States of America
Whatever may be the temporary applause of men, or the expressions of public opinion, it may be asserted without fear of contradiction, that no true and permanent fame can be founded, except in labors which promote the happiness of mankind.
The true grandeur of humanity is in moral elevation, sustained, enlightened and decorated by the intellect of man
The press, watchful with more than the hundred eyes of Argus, strong with more than the hundred arms of Briareus, not only guards all the conquests of civilization, but leads the way to future triumphs.
I have never known a man who was sensual in his youth, who was high-minded when old.
Can there be in our age any peace that is not honorable, any war that is not dishonorable?
Whether the Union stands or falls, I believe the profession of arms will henceforth be more desirable and more respected than it has been hitherto.
Give me the money that has been spent in war and I will clothe every man, woman, and child in an attire of which kings and queens will be proud. I will build a schoolhouse in every valley over the whole earth. I will crown every hillside with a place of worship consecrated to peace.
War crushes with bloody heel all justice, all happiness, all that is Godlike in man. In our age there can be no peace that is not honorable; there can be no war that is not dishonorable.
The true greatness of nations is in those qualities which constitute the greatness of the individual.
From the beginning of our history the country has been afflicted with compromise. It is by compromise that human rights have been abandoned.
Without knowledge there can be no sure progress. Vice and barbarism are the inseparable companions of ignorance. Nor is it too much to say that, except in rare instances, the highest virtue is attained only through intelligence.
The slave power dares anything, and it can be conquered only by the united masses of the people. From Congress to the people, I appeal.
If a man has done evil in his life, he must not be complimented in marble.
The age of chivalry has gone; the age of humanity has come.